Chi-dragon handle octagonal lobed jade cup
螭龍獻酒杯

Yuan dynasty, 1279-1368AD, China
元代, 1279-1368, 中國

L11 cm x W10 cm x H7 cm
長 11 x 寬10 x 高7 釐米

A sinuous chi-dragon carved in full relief serves as the handle for this thin walled octagonal lobed oval cup of medium-high polish. The open-jawed dragon grasps the rim with its forelegs, its head rearing up at the side, its tail and legs wrapped around the body of the cup and carved with finely incised details. The semi-translucent stone is a milky green colour with some russet and dark inclusions.

Such stylised dragons are an archaistic reference to the chi-dragons of the Han dynasty. Chi-handled drinking cups were also made in qingbai porcelain during the Song and Yuan dynasties. It is difficult to say which was imitating the other, the porcelain or the jade. Nevertheless, the vessel type remained popular in jade throughout the Qianlong reign in the Qing dynasty.

Similar Examples

‘Possessing the Past’, Fong and Watt, pl.18, p.58. A jade cup with a single chi-dragon handle in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, is dated from the Yuan to the early Ming dynasty.

‘The Youngman Collection- Chinese Jades from Neolithic to Qing’, R. Youngman, Art Media Resources Inc., Chicago, 2008, figure 206, p.204.

‘Chinese Jades from Hand to Ching’, J. Watt, the Asia Society, Inc., 1980, figure.139, p.165.